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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · rock · spell · squash · clip · cap · row · cell

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spell — magic
  6. row — a line
  7. spell — a short time
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. spell — letters
  10. rock — music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. clip — a video
  15. squash — to crush
  16. row — to paddle
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. squash — the sport
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cold — not warm
  22. rock — a stone
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cell — a phone

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com